Editorial biased in favor of up-scale demography

Brian R. Lawler

Posted: Tuesday, February 22, 2005

The Feb. 20 editorial on Oconee County schools ("Oconee BOE should explain recent firings") raised important questions about the dangers of the school board's activities. However, I found it reprehensible the editorial used language speaking of the attractiveness of the county's demographics, equating these conditions to wealth and high test scores.

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First, as an educator, I know these qualities can in many ways be very unattractive in that such a community's demands on schools can often be detrimental to the education of all students. The pressure to create high achievement opportunities for select students is often at the neglect of others.

But more significantly, this language is symptomatic of the surreptitious racism found in our everyday assumptions and language. Although unstated, Oconee County is also significantly less diverse than other counties in Georgia. While 49 percent of Georgia's school enrollment is white (55 percent at Grade 12), 86 percent of Oconee County's students are white (91 percent at Grade 12). While the correlation in this Oconee County data of wealth and test scores to diversity is anecdotal, merely a particular instance, it is a condition well recognized in the education community.

I ask the editor responsible for the editorial to apologize to the readers of the Athens Banner-Herald for his bias. More importantly, I ask for this editor to apologize to the school children he implied to be unattractive.

Personally, I find the Athens-Clarke County demographics a significantly more appealing place to work and live.